Enigma

Mixed media on Fabriano

5" x 7"

2013

Model: Alli Wynn Roberts

© Patricia Ariel

ORIGINAL AVAILABLE HERE

Would you buy me a cup of coffee?

In a couple weeks I will be finally starting the very first Changing Woman portrait. It has been such a ride, and it has not even started. There is still so much to do, so much to understand. I have the sweetest plans and enough ADD to get my life significantly messy sometimes, so it has also been an intense exercise on organization and creating structure. It is scary and it is exciting and it has occupied a lot of my head lately.

I have defined a date to start the de facto work, and this date is August 1st. The thing is that I decided to turn this moment into a celebration, and you are invited. I will take that day to do nothing else but draw and paint - excepting, of course, sleeping and taking care of some other basic needs. I will turn on my webcam at noon PT of that day and let people watch my working process whenever I am working. There will be moments of pure “domestic bliss”, a blonde little elf peaking at the camera, possible sounds of crows and seagulls (the seagulls are specially crazy at this time of the year), underground music, eventual city sounds (like noisy trucks that sometimes stop by the alley, exactly under my window), but try not to be distracted by these little sweet details because there will be an artist in full exercise of her sacred labor. I will be tweeting and I will be posting pictures to Instagram for all the 24 hours that the event lasts.

Simultaneously (and this is a VERY important part of this virtual event), consider donating $2 dollars (that's right, TWO. DOLLARS.) to contribute to the current Changing Woman fundraising campaign. This is a regular cup of coffee at Starbucks. With 2,000 fans and counting on Facebook, I thought that, if each one of them donated me a “cup of coffee”, I would easily surpass my goal! How cool that would be?

And this is why I am calling this event “Coffee for art”. It would be like buying me a cup of coffee. Except that that money will go into keeping my project going for the next months, so I can make enough art to lift the spirits of a lot of women that have been battered, exploited, neglected, discriminated. And give more hope to others that depend on a shelter to rebuild their lives.

The broadcasting will happen via justin.tv, on my (under construction) channel http://justin.tv/patriciaariel but I believe I can embed the video on other places. My plan is to create a page specific for this special fundraising so my followers from outside the US can donate. This page will be powered by PayPal. US sponsors that wish to have their much deserved tax deductions can donate right at the USA Projects page (http://usaprojects.org/projects/changing-woman). But this system can also change, and if it does, I will let you know.

Of course you always can consider donating more than a cup of coffee (because, hey, there are some cool prizes to win!), and you don't need to wait the August 1st for that, but even if you cannot donate the coffee or the bigger bucks, you are welcome to peek into what my life is about most of the time and enjoy my art making process, and even chat in real time, ask questions, etc.

See you there!

Spread the Love. Receive ART.

The Changing Woman project fundraising at USA Projects needs to reach a minimum goal of $2,500 USD so we can receive all the collected funds. We need to reach out to a maximum number of people in order to spread the word and collect donations.

With this purpose, I am giving away an Art Package containing an original piece of mixed media art ("Natura #3”) and a 4,6" x 6,5" hardcover journal featuring my work “Duality". The contest will run until August 13th at 7:00pm PT. On the 14th, prior to the end of the campaign, the winner will be announced.

To enter to win this beautiful prize just follow these rules:

1. Like and share the Changing Woman campaign athttp://www.usaprojects.org/project/changing_woman

2. Share this banner

3. Leave a simple comment below the giveaway banner, on the Changing Woman Facebook page’s timeline to be assigned a number

4. To have more chances to win, just share the campaign outside Facebook. You can share it in your blog, in your social networks like Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, or any other. Then leave another comment with a link to the page where you shared the campaign. Another number will be assigned to you. The more you share, the more chances to win.

Thank you for all that you do! And GOOD LUCK!

Natura #3

Mixed media on Fabriano
5" x 7"
2013

@Patricia Ariel

NFS

Changing Woman on USA Projects

A couple days ago the Changing Woman Project launched the second phase of its fundraising on USA Projects, a non-profit grantmaking organization created to help artists succeed in their art projects. USA Projects is totally committed with the advancement of the arts, and every artist/project goes through a screening before being accepted. I myself had to tweak the project text and video about three times before it was finally ready to meet their guidelines, but it was all worth it. Now the project is live and open to accept donations, which are totally tax deductible. All donors receive a tax receipt immediately after they make their donation online.

USA Projects also works in an “all or nothing" system, which means that funds are received only if final goal is reached. I decided to keep the goal in its minimum this time since having the whole budget met is not really a priority right now. Funds must come gradually to meet the project’s ongoing needs though, and I will start as many campaigns as necessary until the goal is met.

Like in the first campaign, exclusive perks are available for all donors, from postcards and posters to limited edition art zines, prints, and hard-copy books. $4,000 USD donations will take home one of the project’s original artworks. All sponsors will win a digital version of the Changing Woman art book. Here is the campaign page: http://www.usaprojects.org/project/changing_woman

And here's the new video (I continue having camera fright):